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You can learn a lot watching an “empty” game

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As you know, the Orioles and White Sox will be playing a game today in front of an empty stadium due to the recent events in Baltimore, with only themselves, journalists, and a skeleton crew of ballpark workers there to see it in person.

While of course the first thoughts should be for everyone in Baltimore in light of the unrest (whether peaceful protest or the violent riots that occurred on Monday), it should be noted that this unusual zero-attendance game will provide a unique look at baseball.

Now, I have, of course by definition, never been to a game with no attendance. But I have been to games that have been very close, with perhaps only a hundred or more fans there, tops. Go to a minor league game on a cold night with a chance of rain and you’ll have a chance to see it (as I have at times), or go to one of the lowest minor leagues, where they play games in large Spring Training facilities in front of crowds far, far smaller than the ballpark is meant to.

It is, in a word that will be said many times today: surreal.

For one thing, there is the fact that almost everything in the stadium is closed. Maybe one or two food stands will be open for the few fans who are there (this won’t be the case for the Orioles game today), and maybe you might still one or two vendors walking around hawking beer, but in general, it is a morgue outside of the seating bowl. They might not even turn on the TVs to show the game to anybody down below.

And yet, much of what the stadium’s PA system and video board play remain the same. They’ll flash out the birthday messages meant for people who probably left during the rain delay in the third innings, they’ll play walk-up music that echoes through the empty stands, they’ll give “fan of the game” awards to people who normally never get the awards because their seats are too expensive, and the mascots are able to give a good chunk of time to every kid in the crowd. Individually.

And, above all else, you can hear almost everything said above a conversational tone. You can hear the players actually call out “I got it, I got it,” and hear them swear after they do something wrong. I don’t know if the mics in Baltimore will be good enough to pick stuff like that up, but if they can, it’ll be a treat (and also NSFW).

Lastly, if it’s possible, baseball with little to no fans there is most definitely connoisseur’s experience. The few people there most definitely want to be there. There are no casual fans. And that is an almost zen-like experience.

MVPs of the Weekend (April 24, 25 and 26, 2015): Felix Hernandez, Rubby De La Rosa, Alex Gordon

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Friday’s MVP was Felix Hernandez, who had a complete game shutout against the Twins giving up five hits and striking out nine.

Saturday’s MVP was Rubby De La Rosa, who struck out 8 and gave up just 4 hits in 7 innings of work for Arizona. He ended up with a no-decision.

Sunday’s MVP was Alex Gordon. While he had an alright day at the plate, going 2-4 with a HR and 2 RBIs, the main reason he is MVP is this:

 

I mean, are you going to argue with that?

Thought not. Standings after the jump:

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OOTP International Baseball Competition Part 6: No-Hitter?

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Throughout the year, I’ll be posting updates of a simulated league from Out Of The Park Baseball 2016 made up of national “dream teams” to determine what the greatest baseball country on Earth is… or something like that. Previous installments can be found here. This is a long post, so there is a JUMP after the first day. Also, hit any picture to make it bigger and more readable.

April 27

Team USA manager Joe Maddon spoke to his team in the visitor’s locker room of Jamsil Stadium:

“Gentleman, Americans, lend me your ears,” he said, as bench coach Buck Showalter sat silently, “We have played extremely well so far. We have gone 22-2, including games against some quality opponents.”

He paused for a second, “But we are about to enter one of the toughest parts of our schedule. Every game we have from now until May 13 is against a team that is .500 or very close to it. Korea, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Japan, the Dominican. So… go out there and make your country proud.”

He decided not to mention the whole “Babe Ruth ghost” thing.

And so, at 5:05 AM on the East Coast of the USA, Team USA took the field against Korea, a Kershaw-Ryu matchup.

In the top of the second, it looked like Team USA would score. Trout was HBP, Goldschmidt walked. Posey infield-flied, but then Ryu let loose a wild pitch against Tulowitzki that moved the runners to 2nd and 3rd. But then, Tulowitzki flew out to mid-shallow center, and Yong-Kyu Lee was able to unleash a tremendous throw in to get the tagging-up Mike Trout at the plate for the rare 8-2 double-play to end the inning.

And after that, the game was a pitching duel…. until the bottom of the 6th, when Dae-Ho Lee took advantage of a controversial HBP call that allowed Hyun-soo Kim to get to first by hitting a 2-run home run off of Kershaw to make it 2-0. Ho-Joon Lee then got a hit, then got to second after an equally controversial balk call, allowing him to score and make it 3-0 when Jung-Ho Kang was able to bounce one into left. A Jeong Choi double later, and it was 4-0, and Kershaw was yanked for Steve Cishek.

Team USA would score a run in the top of the 7th, but that would be all they’d get, as Korea pulled off the 4-1 win. Hyun-Jin Ryu was named the player of the game for his 7 innings of 5-hit ball.

But perhaps, Joe Maddon mused, they should have given the player of the game to Babe Ruth’s ghost. After all, Team USA had lost two of the three games it had played since he’d first shown up.

The other game in Asia that day was Netherlands at Taiwan, and the Dutch continued to struggle, falling 7-6 despite a HR from Wladimir Balentien.

 

As morning broke in the Western Hemisphere, news already came up that the Mexico-Venezuela game would not be played due to a forecast of bad weather in Caracas:

Screen Shot 2015-04-17 at 2.21.09 PMIn Toronto, where weather is no worry thanks to the dome, the Canadians beat Australia 5-2. That was just the start of the bad news for Australia, though, as David Kandilas got hurt in the field and suffered a 2-week elbow contusion and Justin Huber bruised his elbow and would also be out for 2 weeks. In face of this news, Ned Kelly O’Shaughessy ordered a Molson and a Labatt, then poured them both together and mixed them, and then drank. A lot.

The Panama-Puerto Rico game had a short delay in the second inning due to rain, but it didn’t stop the home team Puerto Ricans from beating Panama 12-5 as Carlos Beltran went 3-4 with 2 RBIs.

The night games would be an eclectic mix: Italy and Colombia would be a match-up between two of the teams with the worst records in the league, Japan and Cuba would be a match-up between two of the best. And Dominican-Rest of the World looked like it could be a massive rout.

The Italy-Colombia game, in Colombia, was won by Italy, 7-4, moving them to 3-22 on the year and tying them with Colombia in the standings. Mario Chiarini homered.

Japan beat Cuba 6-3 in Havana, as Seiichi Uchikawa went 2-5 with a triple and a homer, racking up 4 RBIs. Yoshio Itoi also homered, while Masahiro Tanaka went 8 innings.

And, finally, the Dominican hit five home runs as they routed Rest-Of-The-World, 9-3.

GO BELOW THE JUMP FOR MORE:

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So are the Royals being this year’s designated villains a good thing or a bad thing?

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Last night, the Kansas City Royals got into a bench-clearer. Again. This time with the White Sox. Who said what and did what will no doubt never be 100% figured out and there most definitely are plenty on both sides who made some very poor decisions.

But this is true: it feels like clockwork so far this year that the Royals are getting into some sort of fracas, whether vocal or physical. There was the whole thing with the Athletics that culminated in Kelvin Herrera appearing to throw at Brett Lawrie‘s head. There was the thing with Mike Trout. The Royals relief corps has probably spent more time running in en masse from the bullpen so far this month than most do in a entire season. Due to injuries in earlier starts and ejections in his most recent ones, Royals’ pitcher Yordano Ventura has yet to be pulled from a game because of managerial decision.

Perhaps it is all coincidence. Perhaps this is just the rest of the team being dragged into a vortex by a small handful of pitchers with chips on their shoulder. Perhaps the Royals will be upstanding citizens for the rest of the season. But, well, it’s probably too late to matter: baseball fandom-at-large has declared that the Royals are villains this year. One article declared them to be the most despised team in the league. They’ve turned to the Dark Side, become heels and taken up the role of bad boys (despite some pleas not to use that phrase).

Again, such labels are for the most part bunk, but the human sports fan loves to label things. It’s why the Yankees are often the “Evil Empire”, why some coaches are called “geniuses” or “slimeballs”, and why there was an entire documentary on why people hate Christian Laettner. It’s our way of projecting fairy tale ideals of good and evil and right and wrong onto what are essentially random events that, unlike the real worlds of politics, business and so on, actually have a score that leaves who won or lost in clear black and white print.

And so, the zeitgeist says that the Royals are the villains. Maybe they are. Maybe they aren’t. But is it a good or bad thing?

Well, one thing is clear: the Royals should stop having bench-clearing brawls and bean-ball wars. And definitely no throwing at heads. Somebody is going to get hurt sooner rather than later if these continue. Maybe it’ll be a Royal. Maybe it’ll be a player on another team. It must stop before it gets to that- there is no reason for people to get hurt over stupid grudges, hurt feelings, and violations of THE UNWRITTEN RULES (TM).

However, what about the emotions and swagger that the Royals are showing? The fist-bumps and exaggerated hand-claps, the shouts and screams of victory? No doubt some of the violations of THE UNWRITTEN RULES (TM) are because of this, and perhaps some of the incidents so far are related to these. And this leads to a bigger question within baseball: how much emotion and expression is too much?

A few days ago, you may have heard, Chris Rock did a monologue for HBO on why baseball no longer had the same hold on youth- especially black youth- as it once did. And while some of what he said was exaggerated for comedic effect, he hit the nail on the head when he pointed out that baseball, more than any other team sport, tries to hold back the public self-expression and emotion of individual players.

And what are the Royals doing? They are showing emotion. They are at times celebrating openly in manners more like basketball players or football players… and, yes, occasionally brawling like hockey players.

And is that bad? Aside from when they reach those tipping points where emotion becomes violence, are the Royals really showing disrespect to the game of baseball? Maybe, maybe not. Likely it depends on any given occurrence.

But perhaps the Royals are a breath of fresh air, a beacon of exuberance in a sea of the mundane. Perhaps the Royals are the villain that Major League Baseball needs, not the one it wants.

But, still… they have to stop getting into fights and beanings. Because there is most definitely such thing as too much emotion, and it’s when people might get hurt.

Recurring Characters of the OOTP International Baseball Competition

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Many of you have likely been following the International Baseball Competition here, in which I simulate a season-long World Baseball Classic-style competition between national baseball teams and also add in some storylines and cast of characters to spice things up. But if you haven’t read all of them, or simply are having trouble remembering, there’s a rundown of some of the cast of characters after the jump. It will be updated occasionally as the IBC season goes on:

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MVPs of the Weekend (April 17, 18 and 19, 2015): Josh Collmenter, Masahiro Tanaka and Adam Jones

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The MVP of Friday was Josh Collmenter, who threw a complete game shutout and had 3 hits as well.

The MVP of Saturday was Masahiro Tanaka, who threw 7 IP of two-hit ball and struck out 8.

The MVP of Sunday was Adam Jones. He’s been absolutely on fire lately, and went 4-5 yesterday with a HR and 5 RBIs.

Standings, as ever, after the jump:

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OOTP International Baseball Competition Part 5: The Haunting of Joe Maddon by the Bambino George H. Ruth

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Throughout the year, I’ll be posting updates of a simulated league from Out Of The Park Baseball 2016 made up of national “dream teams” to determine what the greatest baseball country on Earth is… or something like that. Previous installments can be found here. This is a long post, so there is a JUMP after the first day. Also, hit any picture to make it bigger and more readable.

April 20

Another week of IBC action also began a new set of series: Panama at Korea, USA at Taiwan, Dominican at Colombia, Mexico at Netherlands, Australia at Italy, Cuba at Venezuela, Japan at Canada and Puerto Rico at Rest-Of-World.

Korea started the action with a 9-1 win over Panama, taking advantage of an 8-run 4th inning.

In Taiwan, Team USA again steamrolled a hapless opponent, routing Taiwan 13-0 with home runs by Matt Kemp (his 5th) and Paul Goldschmidt (his 3rd) along the way with Matt Harvey going 8.1 IP with 8 Ks and only 6 hits given up. Late in the game, Joe Maddon sent Josh Donaldson up to pinch-hit for Evan Longoria, “just so that I have something to do today.” He also put in Sean Doolittle to end the game after Harvey hit his pitch-count.

Nelson Cruz homered twice and Adrian Beltre and Starling Marte also hit round-trippers in a 11-1 Dominican win over Colombia, but Jose Bautista had to leave the game after getting hit by a pitch. His diagnosis was pending.

The Netherlands’ funk continued, as they lost to Mexico, 4-2. After beginning the season 9-0,  the Dutch had gone 4-6.

In Nettuno, the Italians found themselves down to the Australian, 5-4, going into the bottom of the 9th. Three Grant Balfour strikeouts later, and it was over. Ned Kelly O’Shaughessy, of course, celebrated by drinking some of the local wine.

Later, in the Western Hemisphere, Jhoulys Chacin had a heck of a game as Venezuela beat Cuba 8-0, giving up only 4 hits over seven innings of work.

Up in Toronto, the Canadians upset Japan, 3-1, on the strength of a 2-run HR by Justin Morneau in the first inning and a nice performance by Shawn Hill and the Canadian bullpen.

A 3-run 8th by Team Rest-Of-World tied up the game with Puerto Rico at 3-3…. and that would be all until the bottom of the 10ths, where Jonathan Albaladejo walked Jabari Blash with the bases loaded for a walk-off walk and a 4-3 Rest-Of-World victory. Edwin Rodriguez could be seen with his face in his palm as the winning run walked across the plate. What a way to go.

(GO BELOW THE JUMP FOR MORE)

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MVPs of the Weekend (April 10, 11 and 12, 2015): Joey Votto, Jimmy Nelson, Miguel Cabrera

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The MVP of Friday was Joey Votto, who went 2-3 with a walk, 2 HR, 4 RBIs and a stolen base!

For Saturday, it was Jimmy Nelson of the Brewers, who struck out nine and gave up only two hits in 7 IP.

And for Sunday, it was Miguel Cabrera, because he had four hits, two of them homers, for 4 RBIs.

 

 

“30 Teams, 30 Posts” (2015): A request to the Minnesota Twins, from a Rochester Red Wings Fan

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In 30 Teams, 30 Posts, I write a post about every MLB team in some way in the lead-up to the beginning of the 2015 season. Previous installments can be found here. Today, in the final installment, an open letter from a Rochester Red Wings fan to their parent club.

TO: Minnesota Twins

CC: General Manager Terry Ryan, CEO Jim Pohlad, Director of Minor League Operations Brad Stell, Manager Paul Molitor

SUBJECT: Sano and Buxton

Hello,

I am writing as a fan of the Rochester Red Wings, your AAA club. You’ve been good to us over the years. We’ve made the playoffs twice and come close a few other times since this affiliation began, and we’ve been lucky enough to see Justin Morneau, Michael Cuddyer, Brian Dozier, Francisco Liriano, Denard Span, Grant Balfour, Glen Perkins, and many other fine players. We even got to have Joe Mauer and Joe Nathan stop by briefly on rehab assignments, which was nice.

But, not to sound ungrateful, we have a simple request for this coming season: Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton. We very much would like it if you had them stop here before you inevitably call them up in September (if not earlier), perhaps never to grace minor league fields again.

Now, we understand. Neither of them have been able to put much time in AA yet, and with a new affiliate in the Chattanooga Lookouts, you no doubt are looking to make a good first impression. And, what’s more, Chattanooga’s climate is probably way better for a young baseball player in April and May than Rochester’s is.

Seriously, the weather here in April can never seem to remember what season it is. Yesterday, I was in shorts, but this weekend, it could snow.

However, that doesn’t change the fact that, come June, Rochester would be the perfect place for Minnesota’s two biggest prospects since Mauer to prepare for the big leagues. The weather will be getting warmer, schools will start letting out, and Frontier Field will start getting packed. By the 4th of July, the stadium will be full basically every Friday night, with some fans packing cowbells and giveaway thunder-stix, much to the annoyance of some people.

And it’ll be even more special if we have Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano to cheer on. Some of us have been waiting for years to see them. So, please, if at all possible, don’t make them bypass AAA.

Thank you, and good luck on your upcoming season,

-A Rochester Red Wings Fan

“30 Teams, 30 Posts” (2015): The Cubs won’t be boring

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In 30 Teams, 30 Posts, I write a post about every MLB team in some way in the lead-up to the beginning of the 2015 season. Previous installments can be found here. Today, the Cubs.

There is a saying that a work of fiction can be good or bad, but the worst thing it can be is be boring. The same could be said for baseball teams. And, well, the Cubs may be many things this season, but they will not be boring.

After all, this is a team with Joe Maddon as manager. He’s never boring. He’s always doing crazy shifts, having his team do themed road-trips where they dress up as 1890s gentlemen or Hawaiian beach bums or whatever.

They have wonder-prospect Kris Bryant. Or, at least, they will. It’s complicated, but basically they’ll call him up within a few weeks, when they’ll be able to start his service clock late enough where they’ll be able to keep him from free agency for an extra year.

They have Wrigley Field still under heavy renovation. The bleachers won’t be done for at least two months. What the heck! How does this happen? Still, not boring.

And, of course, they have their endless quest to finally win their first World Series since 1908, and, perhaps more importantly, the quest to prove Back To The Future II correct.

So, yes… the Cubs are not going to be boring this year. That is for sure.